Uruguay 1-1 Peru: Guerrero and Lodeiro the key men as both sides waste chances to win it

July 5, 2011

The starting line-ups

A more exciting game than many of the previous Copa America contests resulted in another draw.

Oscar Tabarez named his expected side, with all three of his star forwards on the pitch, supported by Nicolas Lodeiro from midfield.

Sergio Markarian wasn’t able to call upon Juan Manuel Vargas from the start, and so instead used Yoshimar Yotun, more frequently used as a defender, on the left flank.

The match was played at a higher tempo than the previous four matches in the tournament, with Uruguay closing down quickly early on, and Peru trying to get the ball forward quickly to Paolo Guerrero upfront.

Uruguay shape

Uruguay’s system was very similar to their formation in the infamous game against Ghana at last summer’s World Cup – two holding players with a more attack-minded player to the left, and Diego Forlan starting central, then dropping deep to drag a centre-back out, usually Alberto Rodriguez. That space wasn’t exploited particularly well by his two fellow forwards, however – Luis Suarez was the closest man to Forlan, with Edinson Cavani staying wide, although the two did switch flanks.

Some good combinations early on came to nothing, and Uruguay suddenly burst into life later in the first half when Lodeiro went from being invisible in the first 20 minutes, to being the game’s key player. He drifted forward unnoticed into great positions in the centre of the pitch, a little like Andres Iniesta does, and looked to get beyond Forlan when the Atletico striker moved away from goal. Exploiting that space helped Uruguay create chances – first Lodeiro seemed to lose track of the ball coming towards him when making a forward run into a great position, but later on he threaded the ball through to Suarez who finished well. Strangely, after that excellent 15-minute spell, Lodeiro was much quieter after half time.

Peru strategy

Peru played a very simple game – they hit direct balls forward to Guerrero, who led the line excellently and brought the two wingers into play well. He most frequently combined with Luis Advincula down the right, although the opening goal cut out any combination play altogether – a huge long ball over the top to Guerrero saw him break the offside trap and round Fernando Muslera to score.

Peru’s other threat came from the long throw of Yotun down the right, but he was mainly focused upon his defensive duties. Maxi Pereira steamed forward from right-back and provided the same attacking thrust he does with Benfica. On the other side, Martin Cacares had a lot of time on the ball with Advincula trying to move central and link up with Guerrero, but is so right-footed that he didn’t really stretch the play as much as he should have – it would have been nice to see Alvaro Pereira used there to provide overlaps, but Tabarez seems to see him more of a wide midfielder than a full-back. Still, Cacares had enough time on the ball to start the move for the goal – but that sums up how much space he had at that point, rather than acting as an advert for his quality in possession.

Second half

The same pattern continued in the second half, although with Lodeiro fading, Uruguay looked less potent. Suarez become more involved, however, and he and Forlan created a good chance that the latter blazed over the bar.

Tabarez’s substitutions didn’t really change the game, with Abel Hernandez and Cristian Rodriguez straight swaps for Cavani and Lodeiro. Uruguay still needed more from left-back, but Pereira remained on the bench.

In fact, it was Peru who grew into the game, and the introduction of Vargas pushed them forward. He replaced Advincula, with Yotun moving to the right and nullifying Cacares.

Vargas’ quality also pushed back Maxi Pereira, and suddenly Peru were well in the game, having simply played defensive, direct football in the first half. Vargas had a couple of efforts that tested Muslera, and then late on his cross found Guerrero at the near post, who headed wide.

Conclusion

A little more excitement here, but there’s still been relatively little tactical interest from the Copa America – we’re still waiting for a game to be won through strategy, or for a manager to change things drastically from the bench. This was a decent game, but basically just the stronger side playing well and then struggling in front of goal, against an underdog getting men behind the ball and then hitting it long for the frontman.

16 Responses to “ Uruguay 1-1 Peru: Guerrero and Lodeiro the key men as both sides waste chances to win it ”

jb on July 5, 2011 at 3:02 pm

Nice analyse. Will you also analyse Chile-Mexico?

Kane Prior on July 5, 2011 at 3:21 pm

Wheres walter gargano? great player and could really help Uruguay in midfield.

andy on July 5, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Nice analysis, though I was expecting to see something about uruguay’s definsive postioning in Peru’s Goal, of course you mention the epruvian goal had ittle to do with tactics but it was quite particular to see both uruguyan centre-backs so high up the pitch.

I thought that Vargas was the real difference maker in this game. After he came on, Peru were much more of a threat, and had he started then Peru may have won the game.

I agree that Guerrero was excellent, his composure in the penalty area for the first goal was simply stunning, and his overall play contributed much to the Peruvian attack.

Like Tim Vickery mentioned in his column the other day, it looks as though this Copa America could be much more wide open than we originally thought, the three favorites have all been held to draws, with none of them looking particularly impressive.

Ronald on July 5, 2011 at 5:00 pm

i guess you won’t be discussing the Ecuador vs. Paraguay game huh, :/

Joe on July 5, 2011 at 6:13 pm

Superb analysis again.

I was thinking, would Uruguay not be better served starting as more of a 4-3-1-2? Cavani and Suarez more central with Forlan starting as more of a trequarista? The width could be provided by putting Maxi and Alvaro Pereira as the left and right fullback.

matt on July 5, 2011 at 11:30 pm

I’m also confused by Cavani’s positioning. He’s probably the best target striker in the world, and Uruguay aren’t using his ability to hold up the ball. Suarez’s pace makes a deep defensive line necessary against Uruguay, and that would further highlight Cavani’s physical presence.

Anonymous on July 6, 2011 at 2:15 am

agreed

Josef on July 6, 2011 at 3:02 pm

at the least, with Forlan pulling deep, one might have expected him to be making runs into the vacated space and winding up in a more central location…

Afonso on July 5, 2011 at 6:35 pm

I completely agree with you, i think both cavani and suarez would be more efficient in a more central position, and alvaro pereira would provide great width.

Sam on July 5, 2011 at 7:05 pm

Yeah, I don’t mind Suarez playing wide, but it’s really bizarre to see Cavani start from outside the fullback.

123 kid on July 5, 2011 at 7:32 pm

putting cavani out wide must be one of the stupidest decisions ever in football.

romafan on July 6, 2011 at 12:32 am

just give it a season or two and forlan will retire or be out of form anyway. then we’ll see suarez/cavani in the middle. you guys are forgetting forlan was the best player in south africa, and even though his club form is dropping, he’s still been playing well for country

at this point, there’s nothing wrong putting cavani and suarez wide. they cut inside and force the full backs to tuck in, allowing maxi and caceres to overlap

if anyone saw the world cup, Cavani has performed admirably on the right of midfield. also when playing for Napoli, that’s where he moves to in order to avoid man-marking & open up space for deep runners. we all seem to forget this is Oscar Washington Tabarez! how many coaches have the skill to form a tactically flexible team like the Uruguay we saw in the World Cup?

the only real problem was defending Peruvian counter-attacks. Peru play a 4-1-2-3, but with Uruguay’s 3 strikers, the fullbacks couldn’t assist the attack much & Guerrero seemed isolated as wingers Advincula & Yotun were pinned back to help out in defence. STILL don’t get why/how Arevalo starts ahead of Gargano. atleast he would give the team another playmaking option, and better transition from defence to attack